Regular meeting #498 was held on January 12th, 2019 at Mina Park Fujisawa.
Seventeen members, two guests and two visitors attended.
              “Contend” was the word of the day, its meanings are 1) struggle, compete, 2) argue and 3) claim and assert. Members used it during the meeting.

<Joke Session>
Joke master TM Y. W. provided us six jokes, they were humoristic.
For Example: The weather forecast
A man was walking down the road one morning and he met his friend.
M: Good morning. Oh, you are wearing a glove on one hand, and none on the other hand. Did you know?
F: Oh, yes, I heard the weather forecast this morning.
M: Weather forecast?
F: Yes, the weather forecaster said on the one hand it will be cold, but on the other hand, it will be warm.
                                    
<Prepared Speech Session>
The 1st Speaker TM S. H.    Title; “Am I reckless or prudent?”   Time: 4-6 minutes
This speech was her first Ice Breaker speech.
She introduced her work history and her family. When she was a senior at university, during just two-week training camp, she got two licenses, not only car’s but also motorcycle’s, which she never told her mother. She talked about her love of motorcycle since then.

The 2nd speaker TM K. I.    Title;” The best is yet to come.      Time 5-7 minutes
The final curtain calls!
He enjoys his retirement life and has been joining a lot of different kinds of activities.
For example, in 2000 he got a first prize at Yokoyama Toastmasters club, and
over a period of 10 years, he has joined in Nedoko singing concerts…etc.
                                  
The 3rd speaker TM M. I.    Title; “Magical moment of India”   Time 8-10 minutes
She talked about her colorful and wonderful travel in India during New Year’s holiday.
Through her speech we came to know that she happily communicated with local Indian people in English, enjoyed a different culture and traditional Indian homemade food with local family, and she wore a Sari to visit Taj Mahal. There she got asked to take a picture with her by Indian families because Indian people love foreigners wearing sari. Wow, the audience was inspired a lot by her speech.
                        
The 4th speaker TM T. O.    Title; “My family”      Time: 5-7 minutes
His father ran a coffee shop. After the father had passed away, his very healthy mother succeeded to it. His eldest brother is an engineer, working in the United States. He himself lives with a lovely calico cat. And as for his wife, he promised to make a speech about her soon.
                
< Table Topics Session>
TM T. I. asked the following questions of 6 speakers.
1. I enjoyed so-called Osechi Ryori as well as Otoso on New Year’s Day.
Did you also enjoy traditional New Year’s food?
TM K. I. answered; he likes it very much. But for a long time, he couldn’t enjoy it because he stayed overseas. But this year he enjoyed Osechi Ryouri very much.
2. I received many New Year’s cards, Nengajyo in Japanese on January first as
usual. Did you receive the Nengajyo?
TM S.K. answered; actually, she doesn’t write Nengajyo, she prefers writing Christmas cards.
3. Recently, the number of those who send Nengajyo is decreasing.
What do you think of such a phenomenon?
TM N. N. answered; It must be caused by the popularity of Emails, which his family are not happy about.
4. I used to pay a visit to Samukawa shrine on New Year’s Day every year.
Did you visit any shrines?
TM Y. U. answered he went to Asakusa Sensouji temple.
5. I also used to watch Hakone Ekiden on TV every year.
I think this sport is very hard, but it is one of the most traditional Japanese
sports. Did you enjoy this sport?
TM Y. W. answered; he went to the roadside to see Ekiden, because the route was near his dwelling. He enjoyed Ekiden.
6. It is said that the original shape of rice cake is round, but the shape is square
in Eastern Japan. Which shape of rice cake did you eat?
TM S. H. answered; she usually buys square-shape rice cake for her family but she feels round one looks yummy.

<Evaluation Session.>
General Evaluator is TM A. M.
Four evaluators evaluated each speaker’s speech.
As TM A. K. mentioned Evaluation is the core system of Toastmasters club, each evaluator gave meaningful and constructive evaluation.
TM K. T. evaluated TM S. H.’s speech.
TM N. N. evaluated TM K. I.’s speech.
TM T. O. evaluated TM M. I.’s speech.
TM E. M. evaluated TM T. O.’s speech.
    
<Award Presentation>
TMOD Award:                       TM Y. U. for auditing our account 1st quarter.
Best Table Topics Speaker:  TM Y. U. double award winner today.
Best Evaluator:                      TM T. O.
Best Prepared Speaker:        TM M. I.
       

                                                        

                                        By H. S. & M. I.  Photos by T. I. & M. I.